Inductive expression and characterization analysis of Paralichthys olivaceus pigment epithelium-derived factor in a virally infected cell line

Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is acknowledged to be a non-inhibitory member of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) superfamily, with antiangiogenesis, and neuroprotective and immumoregulatory function, mainly in the tissues of nervous system. Here, A PEDF gene homolog, Paralichthys olivaceus PEDF (PoPEDF), was isolated from flounder embryonic cells (FEC) treated with UV-inactivated Grass carp hemorrhage virus (GCHV) and subsequently identified as a differentially expressed gene. The full length of PoPEDF cDNA is 1803 bp with an open reading frame of 1212 bp encoding a 403-amino-acid protein. This deduced protein contains an N-terminal signal peptide, a glycosylation site, a consensus serpin motif, and a 34-mer and a 44-mer fragment, all of which are very conserved in the PEDF family. PoPEDF gene exhibits a conserved exon-intron arrangement with 8 exons and 7 introns. This conserved evolutionary relationship was further confirmed by a phylogenetic analysis, where fish PEDFs and mammalian members formed a well-supported clade. Constitutive expression of PoPEDF was widely detected in many tissues. In response to UV-inactivated GCHV or poly(I:C), PEDF mRNA was upregulated in FEC cells with time. This is the first report on the transcriptional induction of PEDF in virally infected cells. (C) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetic relationships among Trichodinidae (Ciliophora : Peritricha) derived from the characteristic values of denticles

The phylogenetic relationships among trichodinids remain obscure. As an important diagnostic marker, the morphology of the denticles in the adhesive disc as well as the adoral spiral has been widely used in generic discrimination and species identification of trichodinids. We studied the characters of denticles of the ten genera of Trichodinidae and the sole genus Urceolaria of Urceolariidae by using a quantitative method. The characteristic values were used to generate Manhattan distance, on which the dendrogram was based to construct with the Unweighted Paired Group Method using the Arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The investigations show that all the genera of the family Trichodinidae were clearly separate from the outgroup Urceolaria, and within the Trichodinidae: (i) Dipartiella grouped with Trichodinella and Tripartiella and lay in the closest position to the outgroup with a low dissimilarity, suggesting Dipartiella might be the most primitive genus in the family; (ii) Hemitrichodina clustered in a single clad and lay in the farthest position to the outgroup with the highest dissimilarity, indicating that it might be the most advanced genus; and (iii) the other 6 genera, Trichodina, Paratrichodina, Semitrichodina, Vauchomia, Pallitrichodina and Trichodoxa clustered in a big clad with very low dissimilarity, showing that they are closely related to each other. We discuss the evolutionary trend of the denticle and conclude that the denticles of the adhesive disc should be an apomorphic feature of the trichodinids and their changes could reflect the evolutionary tendencies of these ciliates.

Cytoplasmic impact on cross-genus cloned fish derived from transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) nuclei and goldfish (Carassius auratus) enucleated eggs

In previous studies of nuclear transplantation, most cloned animals were obtained by intraspecies nuclear transfer and are phenotypically identical to their nuclear donors; furthermore, there was no further report on successful fish cloning since the report of cloned zebrafish. Here we report the production of seven cross-genus cloned fish by transferring nuclei from transgenic common carp into enucleated eggs of goldfish. Nuclear genomes of the cloned fish were exclusively derived from the nuclear donor species, common carp, whereas the mitochondrial DNA from the donor carp gradually disappeared during the development of nuclear transfer (NT) embryos. The somite development process and somite number of nuclear transplants were consistent with the recipient species, goldfish, rather than the nuclear donor species, common carp. This resulted in a long-lasting effect on the vertebral numbers of the cloned fish, which belonged to the range of goldfish. These demonstrate that fish egg cytoplasm not only can support the development driven by transplanted nuclei from a distantly related species at the genus scale but also can modulate development of the nuclear transplants.

incomplete exponential sums over galois rings with applications to some binary sequences derived from z(2l)

IEEE Computer Society

Ultrahigh-resolution fiber-optic image guides derived from microstructured polymer optical fiber preforms

Ultrahigh-resolution fiber-optic image guides-fused image fiber, faceplate, and taper-were fabricated by using microstructured polymer optical fiber (MPOF) preforms composed of two polymers: polymethylmethacrylate and polystyrene. The pixel diameter in the resultant MPOF-based image guides was as small as 3 mu m. The imaging capabilities of these types of fiber-optic elements were demonstrated. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America